Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii)

Akaka has sponsored a handful of good government bills, among them additional protection for whistle-blowers, a bill that mandates legislation be written in clear language that can be understood by "average Americans," and a bill that mandates political appointees who campaign must be fired.

However, Akaka is rarely able to bring his legislative ideas to a vote, never mind twisting enough arms to pass them. For example, in the 2003 - 2004 Congress, he sponsored a handful of innocuous resolutions and bills that mostly stayed in committee. His three successes were the naming of a post office, the switching of a national park boundary and training programs for postmasters.

Economy

Akaka, a member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, helped craft the fall 2008 $700 billion bailout, adding language to reduce investors' conflicts of interest.

The senator has a history of sponsoring consumer protection legislation. In 1993, he introduced a measure to curtail conflicts of interest on mutual fund boards. In 2005, he proposed two amendments to a bill that made it more difficult to declare bankruptcy. One would have barred credit card companies from charging interest and fees to users participating in credit counseling. Another would have required companies to provide clients detailed information about the long-term interest costs and the sum they would have to pay each month to get rid of their balance in three years. Both failed.

Rights for Native Hawaiians

Akaka has repeatedly made the case that native Hawaiians must be granted rights to self-determination before they can recover from the federal government's overthrow of their monarchy in the 1890s.

He sponsored the 1993 Hawaii Apology Resolution which acknowledged that the U.S. overthrow of the Hawaiian government was illegal.

In 1998, Akaka convinced President Clinton to recognize native Hawaiians as aboriginal people. But the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2000 that that designation was illegal.

In response, Akaka proposed a measure that would have given native Hawaiians the right to set up their own government, which would have been similar to tribal governments established by Native Americans. The legislation, dubbed the Akaka Bill, proved the biggest legislative fight of his career.

In 2000, the measure passed the House but died in the Senate. Akaka introduced the measure again in 2001, but Republican leaders refused to bring it to the floor.

Akaka tried again in 2004. This time, the proposal passed through Indian Affairs Committee but Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz) put a hold on the bill because of his belief that it would create different rules for people of different races who live in the same place.

Akaka agreed to drop the bill temporarily. It was set to come to the floor in August 2005, but the Justice Department raised "serious concerns" a month beforehand. Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) placed another hold on it because he feared the legislation would expand gambling. When the Senate finally considered bringing the bill to the floor in June 2006, it failed by four votes to get the vote. He again introduced the measure in 2007, but it has not yet left Indian Affairs committee.

Akaka was also instrumental in convincing Democrats to include a line supporting the rights of indigenous Hawaiians in the party's official platform plank at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

Asian-Americans

As the only Chinese-American member of the Senate, Akaka has advocated improving treatment of Asian-Americans, focusing especially on addressing the internment of Asian-Americans during World War II.

In 1995, he supported reviewing World War II service records to award more distinguished medals to deserving Asian-Americans, a law that resulted in Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) receiving a Congressional Medal of Honor. He also called for the creation of a committee to examine the internment and deportation of Japanese-Americans during the war.

He sponsored a bill that permanently eliminated the visa requirement for Japanese tourists visiting the U.S. Japanese tourists make up a sizable chunk of Hawaii's tourism.

In May 2008, he introduced a bill that would give pension benefits to Filipino World War II veterans living overseas, which proved controversial.

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